Yoku Toki
by loadedpistol
Summary: Kagome and Sango are relaxing at a hot spring when they hear the sounds of a fight. They investigate and find a girl named Arina. Can they trust this little fighter? One of my first fanfics, please review!
1. Chapter 1

--Okay, this is one of two stories that I'm going to post on here... This is my first time posting any of my stories. I hope you all enjoy!--

Kagome Higurashi held up a hand to shade her eyes as she checked the sun's position. Her mom had made a delicious picnic lunch for her and her companions: Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kirara. At the moment, they were all simply "moving forward" as Inuyasha put it. He had said they needed to look for clues to Naraku's whereabouts, although she didn't get how they could do that if they never saw or spoke to anyone. Inuyasha was just so irrational. Kagome sighed and closed her eyes, then instantly regretted it as her bike hit a _huge_ rock and fell over, bringing her down with it. The next thing she knew, Inuyasha was pulling her up and yelling at her for being such a klutz.

"Kagome, I don't know what the hell you would do if I didn't watch out for you all the time!! You're like a little kid!!"

Enraged, Kagome pulled her arm out of his grip and put her hands on her hips.

"Whaddya mean, I'M a little kid?! YOU'RE the one who insists on dragging us all around the countryside without really getting new information or going anywhere! You are such a selfish idiot, Inuyasha! Why don't you think about someone else for a change??"

Inuyasha turned bright red, then retorted, "You're one to talk! _You're_ only mad cuz you fell off your thing and looked stoooopid!"

"Don't even THINK…!"

"You're such a…"

"Enough!" Miroku said loudly as he, Sango and Shippou jumped off Kirara's back. "You're BOTH acting like idiots! Kagome, let's stop this. It's lunchtime. How about that picnic?"

With one last glare at the insensitive half-demon, Kagome whipped around and bent down to pick up her bike. She grabbed the bag containing the lunch and marched over to a nearby tree. Everyone followed her cautiously (especially Inuyasha) and the meal was spent in total silence.

As he crumpled up the wrappings on his lunch, Miroku sent a subtle signal to Sango to take Kagome somewhere away from Inuyasha. Sango gave a small nod to show she understood and looked around for something, anything to use as a distraction. Suddenly she spotted a hot spring partially hidden by trees in the woods. Smiling, she turned to Kagome. "Wanna go for a 'spa treatment' as you call it? There's a hot spring right over there!" Before Kagome could say anything, Sango took off for the forest. Kagome watched her for a second, then followed.

Once they were out of earshot, Miroku turned to Inuyasha. "You like getting into trouble, don't you?" "What the hell are you talkin' about?" Inuyasha snapped. However, he was steadily turning redder and redder. Miroku just rolled his eyes and sipped the delicious drink from Kagome's picnic. Then he entertained himself by watching Sango's ass shake as she walked toward the spring and, thankfully, away from Inuyasha. Kagome was pretty much like a ticking bomb around him. Since she was acting incredibly kind and considerate about Kikyo, Miroku figured that she had to take it out on the two-timer other ways. All that could really be done was to distract Kagome, at least until Inuyasha made his choice.

Meanwhile, the two young women had just reached the forest and were beginning to feel the warmth from the tranquil spring. Much as she hated to admit it, Kagome was starting to feel glad about coming to this peaceful place. She needed to unwind. So many unpleasant thoughts had been going through her head lately, and she needed to let go of a _lot_ of stress. As she stripped, she glanced back at the idiotic, crude, loveable half-demon. She knew that the way she felt when she was around him was NOT good, but being away from him was even worse. Let's all just face it—he's addictive. Most of you reading this probably would agree. And Kagome definitely would. Even though she would hate saying it.

Anyway, Kagome thought about her feelings and his feelings and everything she had thought about ten million times. She was about to be sucked in when she forced herself to look away and push HIM out of her head. She was in a beautiful, secluded paradise with a spa all set up for her. Why should she be sad or reflective? She should learn to live in the moment more. And she would start right now. Squaring her shoulders (not exactly relaxing, but she's new at it), she stepped into the spring. Finally letting her body become fluid and loose, she slipped down into the steaming water, giving Sango a contented smile. She could do this. She could stay here forever. She could sleep here and never have to worry about guys or jewels or anything ever…

Kagome woke with a start. She had been having a wonderful dream. She was back in her era, she was eating with her friends and they were all laughing and talking… just a group of ordinary teens. Kagome couldn't remember what they had been talking about. It didn't really matter.

Kagome let out a small groan as she was jerked out of her wonderful nap. Why had she woken up? She was still _sooo_ sleepy. Was everything ok? Suddenly she heard someone calling her name. They didn't sound panicked. With a slight moan, she opened her eyes, which felt like 100 pound weights had been attached to them. Sango was standing up, looking through the trees. "Kagome," she kept saying.

"What?" Kagome asked, sitting up slowly. "If Miroku and Inuyasha are here--"

"No," Sango cut her off, "I hear a battle… or something."

"Kay, let's check it out," Kagome replied, reluctantly pulling on her clothes. Rough laughter resounded from somewhere nearby, in the direction Sango was looking. Then, suddenly, a girl's voice yelled something. Startled, Kagome and Sango looked at each other, then ran quickly toward the fight.

When they reached a small meadow, they stopped dead. There was a young girl, about 13 years old, standing at the other end of the field. She had a long, wild shock of fiery orange/red hair. She looked like a demon—she had dog ears on the side of her head. She was gripping a long sword—and all around her lay bodies. Or what they thought were bodies. They were so mangled that they were almost unrecognizable. The girl quietly sheathed her sword and started walking into the forest.

"Hey!! Hey, wait!!" Kagome started to run after her. The girl whirled around at lightening speed, one hand on her sword's scabbard. When she saw Kagome, she looked infinitely surprised. After a moment, though, she put on a passive face and stood still. Kagome stopped about twenty feet away from her. She could see the girl more clearly now. The young woman had piercing green eyes that were emphasized by thick lashes. Across her nose was a patch of freckles, and she looked even younger up close.

"Why did you do that to those men?" Sango asked pointedly. Kagome jumped; she had not heard her friend come up behind her. "Were they harassing you?"

The girl looked down for a moment, then stared directly at Sango. Her face was set stubbornly. "Yeah. They were trying to steal my sword from me. So I showed them who they were dealing with. You gotta problem with that?"

Sango involuntarily took a step back. _Whoa._ This kid had some serious guts—and some serious attitude. Sango wondered if she could really be that powerful. She looked over to Kagome to see what she thought about all this, but she seemed deep in thought. Sango turned to the girl again. Her face was still stubborn and somewhat challenging. "How old are you?" Sango demanded.

The girl flushed but didn't break her gaze. "12," she mumbled.

"And your name is…"

"… Arina."

"Are you all alone?"

"…"

While Sango was busy interrogating the girl, Kagome stood thinking _very_ hard. She _knew_ she had seen this girl before. She looked so familiar, it couldn't be a coincidence. But she had absolutely no memories of ever talking to her or smiling at her or even just seeing her in a village. _Who was she??_ Kagome _had_ to find out, and it looked like the girl wasn't in a sharing mood. Well, she would just have to give her a little time. And she knew just the way to do that.

Cutting Sango off (Arina wasn't answering anyway), Kagome declared, "I think you should stay with us for a while, Arina. Do you want to do that?"

Both Arina and Sango looked taken aback, but almost instantaneously, Arina's face broke into a wide, almost satisfied grin. "Sure," she controlled herself, as if she was so excited, she almost couldn't stand it. "Are there more in your group?"

"_Kagome…_" Sango hissed. "_Don't!_"

"Yeah, there are more of us outside of the woods. C'mon, we'll take you to them."

"_Kagome!!" _Sango hissed through her teeth this time. And she sounded_ really_ angry.

Kagome pretended not to have heard and started toward the guys. Arina quickly bounded after her, with Sango walking slowly and sullenly behind them.

--I hope you liked it! I would really appreciate it if you could review this and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!--


	2. Chapter 2

-- Alright, on with the story! What do you think about Kagome's sudden curiosity? And do you think Sango is being just a little _too_touchy about Arina? Well, I guess there's only one way to solve the mystery! (Although answers won't come until the story's fleshed out a bit... don't you just love cliff-hangers?)--

Inuyasha was starting to get pissed. Where the HELL were those two stupid girls?! They had wasted the rest of the day by going off who knows where into the woods. Miroku had gone to check on them a while ago and they weren't anywhere to be found. He was all upset about it, as if losing those two would be a bad thing. He could understand if he was upset about Sango, though. How the hell Miroku finally focused on one girl was beyond Inuyasha—he was such a pervert. He must really love her. (_Awwwww!_) As for Kagome, though, she was such a royal pain in the ass, Inuyasha wouldn't care if she was gone. The only reason he wanted her around was so she could find the jewels.

Inuyasha was turning continuously redder. He knew that he was lying to himself. Truth was, he was afraid that he wouldn't know himself without Kagome, or any of his friends. They had become everything to him. Even Shippou, the little brat. He was more like a brother than Sesshomaru ever was. Kirara was a great fighting companion. Miroku was always giving him advice, even when he didn't need it. Sango took care of everyone else, most of the time without their knowing it. And she already had so much going on. And Kagome…

Inuyasha didn't know how to describe her. She was always there for him and probably always would be. She knew him better than anyone…ever. He knew it sounded stupid, but she was almost like another part of him. She made him smile, and almost no one could do that. He…

He looked up and saw them coming back. He jumped out of the tree he had been laying on and was about to start screaming at them (amazing how he can forget what he had just been thinking), when he saw a third figure. _What the hell?!_The figure didn't look like it was getting ready to pounce or attack. If anything, it looked like it was following the girls. "Miroku, they're bringing someone. Damn fools."

Miroku got to feet and stared in their direction. "Who is that?" "I dunno," mumbled Inuyasha. "How the hell could I? Those stupid idiots are always bringin' us some sob story to fix." He jumped down from the tree and sighed at the women as they made their way toward the guys. However, he was too impatient to wait, and (being Inuyasha) put no thought into his words. "HEY!! WHO THE HELL'S THE MIDGET??" Faster than Inuyasha could react, Arina unsheathed her sword, ran over to the half-demon, and held it against his throat. _Whoa,_Inuyasha thought, stunned. _How the hell did the little runt do that?? She's almost as fast as Sesshomaru!_

Arina grinned cockily and lowered her blade. "This _midget _just beat you," the lithe demon sneered. Inuyasha stared at the brat for a moment, then became furious. "Beat me at WHAT?? If that's what you call a fight, then you're stupid AND ugly." Arina turned a bright red and quickly reached up a hand to smack the prideful half-demon. Inuyasha ducked down _just_ in time. He could actually feel the wind from her slap passing over him.

The rest of the group was watching this exchange with differing degrees of interest. Sango was still sulking about having Arina in their group. There was something she didn't quite trust about the girl. Miroku and Shippou were both looking at Arina interestedly. They were eager to find out who and what this girl was. Kagome, however, was staring at Arina intently, racking her brain for a memory of this strange child. No, wait, she wasn't really a child. The serious look about her, while difficult to detect, said that what she had gone through had made her more than just a kid. She was hardened by something, and Kagome needed to know what.

Kagome had always been naturally curious, but this was one of the most powerful urges she had ever experienced. She HAD to know who Arina was. She HAD to. Miroku suddenly interrupted her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. She looked around dazedly, then smiled when she saw Arina and Inuyasha fighting still. Funny, how they had already seemed to fall into a routine. Almost as if…

Miroku tapped Kagome on the shoulder, causing her to jump. "Kagome, did you hear a word I said?" asked the monk, obviously a little hurt that she hadn't been paying attention. Sango was nowhere to be seen. Kagome looked up at Miroku guiltily. "Sorry, Miroku, what did you say?"

Miroku sighed. "I asked how you both found her. I tried asking Sango, but she told me to ask you and then walked away. What's with her?"

"I have no idea," Kagome said exasperatedly. "I've never seen her take such a dislike to someone. It's spooky. Anyway," she continued, sitting in the nook of a tree, "we found Arina (that's her name, by the way) in a clearing in the woods. She had apparently been fighting these guys. They had been trying to take her sword, she said. Well, I don't know what she did to those guys, but they were… disgusting. Just a pile of blood on the grass. It was horrible."

Miroku suddenly looked alarmed. "Kagome, if she has that kind of power, who knows what she could be capable of. We need to find out where she's from and what she's doing here."

"That's exactly what I want to do," Kagome replied. "It's just that she refuses to talk about herself. It's kinda weird."

Miroku nodded. "Maybe we should keep an eye on her for a while. Let's just hope she doesn't do anything that could be dangerous."

Kagome chuckled and pointed to the half-demon and strange girl. "Then maybe we should break up the fight? I have a feeling Inuyasha's the one who's gonna get hurt!"

Inuyasha was busy yelling more insults at Arina, who stood calmly with a little smile on her face, as if she was laughing at the half-demon in front of her. This only made Inuyasha rage even more.

Kagome left Miroku brooding and the two hot-tempered demons fighting and went to look for Sango. She knew she had made the demon-slayer angry by inviting Arina to join their group after just meeting her—and witnessing that awesome power. Kagome knew she had to be careful, but Sango didn't need to be so distrustful!

As Kagome wandered through the woods, she thought about Arina's reaction to being asked to stay with the group. She had seemed almost unable to control herself. Was it because she had never been part of a team? And she had seemed to know Kagome as well… Kagome sighed and looked ahead of her. Sango was sitting on the bank of a river, staring moodily at the swirling torrents. When Kagome sat down beside her, she barely turned her head. "I'm sorry…" she said after a while. "I don't trust her, Kagome. There's just something about her, I can't put my finger it, but something is telling me to stay away."

Kagome looked at her friend and frowned. "Maybe it's because of what we saw in the clearing. But if she was really evil, she would've done something to us, right? Other than torture Inuyasha."

"I don't know, Kagome," Sango sighed. "I just don't know…"

That night, everyone watched as the young demon gobbled down her dinner. The girl had a huge appetite! She was nearly as bad as Inuyasha! Actually, it was pretty weird seeing them sitting next to each other; they acted exactly the same. After dinner, Arina cuddled up to a nice sturdy tree and fell asleep—very loudly. It seemed like her snores filled the entire forest! Inuyasha couldn't take it for very long; he jumped down from the top of the tree and smacked her on the head. "HEY!!" the young demon screamed. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"You, bitch, you were keeping us all up!!" Inuyasha snarled.

"What the hell?? That's your problem, _not mine!!_" With a twitch of her fluffy tail, Arina stalked off toward the hot spring.

Kagome yawned and looked at her half-demon hopelessly. Jeez, couldn't he have been a little nicer? And she had just fallen asleep, too! Dumb, dumb, dumb! The idiot always had to make trouble and stir everything up! Having gotten herself sufficiently pissed off, Kagome stomped over and grabbed Inuyasha by one of his doggy ears.

"OWWWWWWWW!! Kagome, what the hell?! What the hell did I do to you, you damn bitch?? LET ME SLEEP!!"

"You wanna sleep?" Kagome asked sweetly. "Then SIT!!"

_Ah….._Kagome thought as the sound of thudding reverberated around the clearing where they were sleeping. _Music to my ears. Now, to find Arina._

The feisty young woman was heading back into the woods where she had first been discovered by Kagome and Sango. Kagome ran up to her. "Hey, wait," she said. "I know you must be upset with Inuyasha for what he just did, but you don't have to leave. We all really want you to stay in our group."

Arina gave Kagome a shocked look and replied, "I'm not planning on going anywhere. I was taking a little walk to blow off some frustration. Although I would've loved to stay and teach that snot-nosed half-demon a lesson. And besides," she said sadly, "not everyone wants me in your group. Sango isn't happy at all. I'm not a complete idiot; I know when I'm unwanted." The pretty young demon looked up at the sky, her eyes blazing. "I just want to stay with your group so badly. I've always wanted to find out what _real_ fighting's like. I'm tired of just using my strength to defend myself and others. I want to out and _do _something—like slaying demons!"

Kagome was both startled and amused by the little speech the girl had given. Kagome wasn't sure whether she could be completely trusted or not. The girl had plenty of aggression and spirit, but it didn't seem malevolent. Suddenly, something occurred to Kagome. "Why are you so eager to kill other demons if you yourself are one?"

Arina looked Kagome squarely in the eyes. "I'm not _all_demon; I'm only half, like Inuyasha. My mother is a human and my dad's a demon." Her eyes clouded over when she said this, and she turned away abruptly as if to hide her emotions. Kagome's curiosity was once again piqued, but she knew better than to pry. Everyone in their group seemed to have their own difficult pasts, and Kagome had plenty of experience in being considerate and aware of other's feelings. Right now, she felt that Arina would be best left to herself.

Kagome moved as if to leave, then changed her mind. She gently grabbed Arina's arm. Startled, the pretty young half-demon whirled around. Kagome smiled kindly at her before saying, "Arina, we may not know you all that well, but I'm sure that over time, you'll become just like family to every one of us. I'll bet that you'll be a wonderful addition to our team, both in fighting and in—" she giggled, " and in entertaining us all."

Arina gave a weak smile through the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes. It was obvious that Kagome's warm and thoughtful words had an effect on her, and Kagome, satisfied, left her in peace.

-- Sorry, I gave in to my touchy-feely side there a little bit! I think I'm being a little more energetic in the author's notes in this story than I am in "Cries of a Bleeding Heart". (if you _can_be energetic in an author's note...) It's probably because I like this story better. I'm probably not supposed to pick favorites... but oh well! I can't wait until this story gets farther along... I think I've got some pretty good ideas (I hope I'm not being too conceited by saying that...) Ok, so _please_ review, it'd help me out a lot if you could tell me what you think of my plot and writing style! I probably won't be able to update for a bit, so please just bear with me! Once summer hits, I think I'll write more... maybe! (I'm a perfectionist, so it'll take me a bit to write new chapters.) Sorry for the heinously long author's note! See ya soon!--


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